Hello Everyone!
Happy New Year! At least happy secular New Year. I know many of us celebrate Samhain as the New Year, though I find myself taking the time between Samhain and Solstice and a little beyond as a time for regrouping, reviewing and planning my new year, setting new goals. I was recently reminded about the holiday season also being the time of the Saturnalia and the Lord of Misrule, where everything in the natural order goes topsy turvy and upside down for a time. I think that explains some of my life right now just after Solstice, or perhaps it’s the coming of Mercury retrograde. Either way it’s been a time of reflection and challenge and after speaking to some folks, I know I’m not alone. For those needing some help planning, I have below some excerpted advice from The Witch’s Coin, to give you focus to your intentions this year.
It’s been a while since I’ve written because I have been busy reviewing life, resting and setting new plans in motion. First, I’m proud to announce the formation of The Temple of Witchcraft as a charitable Church in the state of New Hampshire and currently seeking our Federal 501c3e status with the Federal Government. The plans have been long in the making and I’m very excited about the overall vision of our ministerial church, mystery school and seminary. We’ll be doing wheel of the year celebrations, rituals, workshops and special events throughout 2010. You can find out more about our vision at www.templeofwitchcraft.org and events I’ll be involved with are listed in my schedule below.
We have also set in motion plans for an independent production company, Copper Cauldron Publishing, to produce selected works with the intent to help support the Temple’s mission and eventual goal to produce a physical temple and retreat center. Copper Cauldron Publishing is dedicated to producing inspirational products of magick and art for the evolution of consciousness for individuals and the world. The vision of Copper Cauldron is drawn from myth of the Goddess Ceridwen, and her Cauldron of Inspiration. She brews a magick potion in it, and her servant imbibes three drops, transforming him into the great bard Taliesin. We too seek to craft tools of vision, poetry, knowledge and magick drawn from the Cauldron, including books, recordings, video, artwork and other media. The purpose of each is to initiate transformation from within to inspire the user to transform the world. The first release to this aim, expected in October, is The Three Rays of Witchcraft: Power, Love and Wisdom in the Garden of the Gods.
And the last of my truly exciting news is that I’m about to embark upon my first trip to Australia to attend the Pagan Summer Gathering of the Church of All Words. It will be my first time down under, and I’m excited at the opportunity to both travel, and commune with Mother Earth in a completely different way.
To better organize and reach out, this will be the last of my Yahoo Penczak-Mailing list announcements. I’ll be switching over to Constant Contact. If you’d like to continue to receive announcements and new updates, please visit http://tinyurl.com/penczakmailing and sign up for my Constant Contact List.
So enjoy The Magick of LIfe Planning below and check out my confirmed travel dates for 2010. I hope to see many of you on the road.
Blessed be,
Christopher Penczak
www.christopherpenczak.com
www.templeofwitchcraft.org
The Magick of Life Planning
Abbreviated Excerpt from The Witch’s Coin by Christopher Penczak
(Signed Copies available at www.christopherpenczak.com)
1. Start by crafting a mission statement for your life. If you had to articulate your overall purpose, what would it be? Think of it as the mission statement of your life’s business. You might have several smaller objectives in life, but the overall theme should be reflected in the mission statement. Magicians talk about knowing your “True Will” or Mystic Will and if you had to sum that up into a small statement with an overall theme, what would it be?
2. What are your goals? What benchmarks must you meet for you to be successful? Are your goals reasonable? What are the objective benchmarks that you use to measure your success? Make a list of your goals, like you did in the previous exercise. Include not just financial goals, but your personal, emotional and spiritual goals. They are all a part of your true will. Set benchmarks for those goals, so you know when you’ve reached them.
3. What are the departments for your life? Departments can include such non-business things as Home, Family and Rest, as well as your daily job and career ambitions. Anything that is important to you needs to have its own department, gaining a part of your intention. If you think you are automatically going to take time out to rest, build friendships and spend time with family, you might be wrong, particularly if you are focusing on your success. Make rest, magick, exercise and anything else you need to have a well balanced life a part of your business plans.
4. Make a list of your assets. What are the things you have that are a benefit for you? Include both material/financial assets and your personal, spiritual and artistic resources. Resources include anything that help you do what you want to do in the world, and are not always listed in terms of monetary worth.
5. Make a list of your detriments. What are the things you need to be successful in your life goals, but are lacking? Include not only financial issues, but personal, spiritual and emotional issues as well. Are there things you can do to improve, or to get help from those who have the resources you need?
6. What are your sources of income? Like the previous questions, income is anything of value that comes into your life business, not just financial income, though of course it includes the money you earn. What are the actions you take that you feel fill you up and rejuvenate you. What are the things you are excited to do?
7. What are your expenses? Like income, expenses go beyond money, and include not only bills and debts, but things that you dislike doing, or actions you take that you feel drain your personal resources. This can include any worries and fears that actively drain you, as well as imbalanced relationships that drain you.
With all of this information now before you, revise your goals. What things do you need to achieve to make your goals? How would you divide your goals in terms of a timeline? I make a list of one year goals that are more specific, with benchmarks, and then less formed three year goals, and then even less formed five year goals, marking general trends that I want to move towards. As you adapt your plan each year, you can adjust your goals and flesh out your benchmarks to make the plan sensible and successful for you.
To ritualize my life plan, I read it in the magick circle once I’ve created it, and revise it at least once every year, usually right after the “new year” of Samhain. I have my business plan goal list on my altar and read it as a part of my daily altar devotionals. I’ve fused the business sense of making a plan of action with the ritual action of sacred space and affirmations.